


Heaven Is A Place On Earth With You

by knightargents



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, Angst, Bullying, Coming Out, Coming of Age, First Dates, Fluff and Angst, Greaser!Ash, Greasers, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Period-Typical Racism, Small Towns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightargents/pseuds/knightargents
Summary: Eiji's a lonely boy, spending any time that wasn't on his high school's track and field team either in his books or in his room listening to the newest music on the charts.It's 1958, and following the aftermath of a racist attack on his father's business, the Okumuras pack their bags and travel hundreds of miles to the sleepy town of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Being just shy of 2000 people, it's a place where everyone knows everyone and where trouble is less likely to show up.Enter Aslan Callenreese, or 'Ash' if you know what's good for you.
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Comments: 19
Kudos: 110





	1. you're just too good to be true

Eiji Okumura is watching the landscape pass him by while his younger sister jabbers next to him. There’s something sharp poking into his calf in the shopping back near his feet, but there’s no room to move it in the small car. It’s 1958, and his family had decided that they were moving to a small town in Massachusetts in hopes that it would be far enough to get away from the racist attacks that have been plaguing them since Pearl Harbor. 

Eiji knows it’s useless, that unless they live in a big city they’ll be forced to deal with white people and their shenanigans. Big cities aren’t safe though, not since his uncle told them they were rounding up Japanese into camps a decade ago. He knows it was a long time ago, but still. That terrified him more than anything, and let him be quiet while his dad drove. It annoys him, how he’ll have to start all over with carefully choosing who can get close enough to be his friend. He’s lonely, but he’s thankful his family’s still intact and in one piece. 

He knows that as stressed as he is, his parents must have it worse. His dad had to shut down his entire business, after all. His mother was already on his case about financial costs already. Eiji watches the vast skyline melt into a forested horizon and prays that everything will be alright at their new home, that everything will be different.

//

Eiji’s hands are shielding his eyes from the heavy sun while he looks up at the two-story home in front of him. His sister is playing around inside while his parents start to unload boxes from the car. The only other noise are the birds chirping above in the trees. 

He follows his sister inside, scoping out the inside of the house. He pats his sister’s head as he walks up the stairs. He’s greeted by a few rooms, one he decides will be his bedroom, and another that will probably be a storage room. Down the small hallway he sees an attic, and if he looks down through a window he can see a huge backyard. _It’s not bad_ , he thinks. It’s definitely nicer than their old home. 

When he walks out the front door to help bring in boxes, he sees the neighbors across the street staring at them from their doorway. From the corner of his eye he sees his mother pat down her dress and smile nervously while she waves at them, but then they shut the door. She fidgets and lets her smile drop, turning around and rolling her eyes. She lets out a small curse but then sees Eiji and tells him to help her move more items. Eiji just sighs. So much for a different town.

//

They manage to move everything inside by the time the night rolls around. They’ve only started to unpack before they gave up for the day. The furniture won’t come for another day or two, so for now they’re sitting on the floor of what would be their kitchen eating pizza. His sister has pizza sauce covering her chubby cheeks. It’s adorable, he decides. 

“Eiji,” his father starts, “When school starts, you’ll be on the track and field team again, right?”

“Yes,” Eiji answers before thinking. Of course he’d be on the team, it’s his one passion that doesn’t let him down.

“Okay,” his dad breathes out. “Okay. Just, be careful. You know how these Americans are.”

Eiji doesn’t correct his dad on the fact that they’re American too. He just nods to give his dad some ease.

//

After their improvised dinner, he helps his mother lay out several blankets on top of each other in makeshift beds.

With everyone around him sleeping, their breaths mingling with one another into the air, Eiji finally takes a deep breath and lets it out. The pressure of the past few weeks has been accumulating to this one day. He doesn’t know what the future holds, doesn’t know if it’ll really be any different from their hometown or if it’s just wishful thinking. He knows his parents have put a lot into this move, but it’s hard to pretend to still be positive. 

From his corner of the room, Eiji can see out of the window into the night sky. They don’t have curtains yet for the window looking into the backyard, but it lets Eiji look at the dim, sparkling stars. They’re gorgeous, like they always are. It settles Eiji somewhat, that no matter what changes in the world and in his country, that the stars will still shine and still be beautiful. The soft wind outside lulls him to sleep, letting him dream.


	2. can't take my eyes off of you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for a late update um there is a Pandemic. 
> 
> There really isn't anything heavy that is going on in this chapter, just some slurs but you should know that since it's the 50's. I'd just like to mention it happens again.

Eiji’s exhausted before the school year even officially begins. He’s a senior, but it doesn’t even matter. At his old school he barely had any friends. Anyone who stuck around long enough to get to know him eventually had to choose between being a social outcast for being friends with an Asian or being treated like a normal person. Eiji can’t blame them. He knows how brutal loneliness is, he doesn’t blame them for not wanting it. 

He can blame them for leaving him behind, though.

So no, a new school doesn’t bother him the way it should’ve. He’ll join the track team, pretend his teammates’ racist jokes don’t grate on his nerves, and generally stay out of trouble. It shouldn’t be that difficult, the school is so small after all.

He wasn’t surprised however when on the first day of classes in his home period, the secretary looked him up and down with barely hidden aversion in her eyes. “So, you’re Mr. O.”

“Yes, Eiji Okumura, ma’am.” Eiji says, taking the paper with his schedule written on it. 

The secretary gives him a look. “I didn’t ask. Now hurry on to your classes before you’re late,” she says after she gives him a sheet with his schedule and a late pass. She’s already turned away from him. Eiji doesn’t even bother sighing, her irritation at him clear. It’s not worth dealing with, he decides. It never is.

When he walks into the classroom everyone’s eyes meet his. He hates this feeling, has always hated it. He can count at least three people who look visibly shocked. 

Eiji looks toward the teacher and gives him the late pass. The teacher raises his eyebrow at Eiji and after a long moment takes the paper. He reads it over his glasses and Eiji fidgets at the front, hating all the attention on him being this long. There’s two girls in the back snickering. 

“So, you’re the new student, Mr. …”

“ _Okumura_ ,” Eiji stresses the vowels.

“Hm,” the teacher says dismissively. “Your english is very good.” 

“I was born here, sir.”

“Well, why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?” The teacher offered. 

Eiji dreaded it. He turned towards the classroom with his expression carefully blank. This moment was going to make or break his experience at the school. He smiled, hoping it would give him some form of leverage and let them be kind towards him. “My name is Eiji Okumura. I’m 17 years old and I recently moved here with my family.” 

His smile faltered slightly when he saw a few girls to the side giggle to each other, pulling their eyes back.

“Hey, I gotta question for Mr. Karama, here,” said a blonde boy towards the back. He had an ugly mischievous sneer on him, and Eiji could feel his heart rate pick up. 

The teacher looks over his glasses at Eiji, raising his eyebrow. Then he glances at the blonde and gestures with the paper in his hand. “Go ahead, Arthur.”

Arthur sits back in his chair, folding his arms and planting his feet while confidence exudes from him. Eiji feels smaller. In a loud voice, he asks "I know you’re new to the school ‘n all, but we don’t gotta be scared that those Japs are gonna bomb us anytime soon, right? I mean, them camps seemed a little empty last time I checked." 

The class breaks out in giggles while Eiji tries not to react visibly. His hands clench by his sides as he forces his eyebrows not to rise, but he can feel his cheeks start to heat up.

“Students, settle down, settle down I said. Mr. Karama, why don’t you take a seat?” His teacher says, waving towards the empty seat a little down Arthur’s row.

“It’s Okumura, sir.” Eiji says again quietly while he walks toward his seat. Just as he walks past Arthur’s desk, the blonde gives him a _look_ and sticks his leg out. Eiji stumbles over it, nearly falling on the ground. He saves himself at the last second, turning his head quickly towards Arthur. “What was that for?” He says without thinking.

“Mr. Okumara,” the teacher says sternly. “Please no distractions, it’s your first day after all.” 

Eiji looks at the teacher a little dumbfounded from shock. “He tripped me.” He says simply, pointing at Arthur.

“Aww cmon teach,” Arthur says in a fake jovial voice. “I was just teasing the new kid!”

The teacher wags his finger at Arthur. “Play nice, Mr. Arthur. Sit down, Mr. Okumara,” he says with finality.

Eiji settles into his seat, barely concealed giggles heard around him. He feels his heart hammer in his chest out of anger. He hadn’t even done anything to feel this much shame. Eiji restrains his sigh, getting himself ready for an entire year of this. 

  
  
  


//

  
  
  


One of the staircases down the south hallway led to the roof. Eiji stood near the top of the second floor and looked over his shoulder, heart pounding fast. It felt as if it was going to drop out of his body at any moment. When he saw that no one was there he let out a sigh of relief, anxiety melting off his shoulders.

It’s lunch time, and for once he’s thankful he’s a senior in such a small town. Almost everyone in his small class of 70 is either driving around or dining off campus today. He overheard a few students earlier say they’re not even coming back to class later. _Good riddance_ , thinks Eiji. He prays and hopes he doesn’t have to deal with the other students during the only time he has to be alone.

All at once he finds himself standing in front of the door to the roof. Eiji imagined it to be locked like in the books he reads, but it's not. He pushes the door open and the wind blows through his hair gently. He inhales a deep breath, feeling the crisp air fill his lungs. After being in the stuffy classrooms all day, the change is more than welcome. 

The peaceful feeling he has breaks completely when he looks to the side and sees a couple sucking each other's faces off. Suddenly he finds himself choking on the deep inhale he just took. Heat rises to his cheeks and his hands become clammy. He should leave. He should definitely leave. Right now.

In the few seconds where he’s paralyzed at the door, deciding whether or not to turn around and run back inside to hide in a classroom like he _should_ have done, the boy on top of her slides his hand up her shirt. Eiji doesn’t mean to make a sound, but at this point he’d be surprised if he ended the year without embarrassing himself further. They both stop and Eiji prays to any deity in the sky to let the ground under him open up and swallow him whole. 

They turn to look at him, shock quickly turning to disgust. The girl yanks the guy’s hand out of her shirt and stands up. Eiji’s entire body feels like stone as he watches him follow her. The metal lunch box in his hand is his only clutch. She comes to stand in front of him, and Eiji can’t look her in the face. Instead he notices her blonde hair floating slightly in the breeze. 

She crosses her arms and coughs sharply. “Can you move?” She says harshly. It’s only then that Eiji realizes he’s blocking off the only entrance. He scrambles to the side, muttering out apologies under his breath. On her way out the door, she eyes him up and down and then scoffs. “What, never got any action? You’re probably a homo or some shit,” she sneers at him as she walks past. The guy follows her and all but shoves him with his shoulder, hard. Eiji stumbles, nearly falling sideways as he hears the boy’s laughter echo in the stairwell. 

Eiji nearly slams the door when they’re finally gone. He wants nothing more than to crumble and dissolve right into the wind. His breath is coming quicker, panic starting to set in as he fully takes in her comment. A rumor being spread about him is really the last thing he needed, he’s already hated enough by everyone as it is. He looks down to his lunch box, but he can feel his appetite being lost quickly as the seconds pass. 

Eiji turns around and slides down the door. He pulls his knees to his chest and rests his head in his arms. It’s already hard being the only Asian family in town. Hell, probably in the whole county, if not state. He shifts his head and peeks at his lunch box from between his arms. He knows what's in it, and that his mom woke up early to make him and his father food for the day. Quite honestly, the food they serve at school is nothing compared to hers. But it’s not worth the sneers and spitballs that get thrown his way. Everything about him is a target, it seems. Even looking at the lunchbox makes him feel gloomy. At this point he’d rather just go home and lay in his bed all day than spend another second at this school. He sighs and sits back up, glaring ahead. 

He doesn’t know when the shift happens, but at one point he stops thinking entirely about his situation to focus more on the sight in front of him. On the rooftop, he’s surrounded by the tops of trees and the horizon ending in the forestry distance. The bright blues separated by slow-moving feathery clouds calm him down without him realizing. The fresh crisp air fills his lungs and evens out his breaths. Around him he can hear birds chirping, and slowly all the tension leaves his body and all his bleak thoughts get replaced with the beauty surrounding him. He forgot how blue the sky can be, and how pretty it is. 

It’s so peaceful. 

Maybe being alone doesn’t have to be so lonely, he decides. 

  
  
  
  
  


Rooftop lunches quickly become a routine for Eiji. No one really goes on rooftops when they can hop in a car and go anywhere around town. He’s not complaining. He can even enjoy his mother’s bentos in peace without anyone threatening or staring at him. Really, it’s a win/win situation. 

After lunch is what he hates the most. It isn’t lost on much of the populace that he’s nowhere to be found during that time period. Walking to his next class with his books under his arm is yet another thing he has to endure, as every one of his classmates likes to stare rudely at him. There’s something sinister in their eyes that he sees only after the first time he walked in on that couple kissing. He knows why, but he chooses to ignore it and not voice it out loud like everyone else around him. 

It’s something forbidden, something that shouldn’t be said out loud.

The only time he looks up is when he passes by Ash Lynx. By now he knows the boy’s real name isn’t actually Ash Lynx, but he’s not close enough to anyone to really ask why. There’s also the fact that he doesn’t want any more fuel added to the fire by asking around for more information on the blonde. 

Ash is leaning back with his foot against a locker, chatting up with a nice hal. He’s looking down at her with a sweet expression, toothpick bouncing on his lip everytime he talks. Eiji can’t help but look at the way his hair is slicked back and slightly ruffled, the ends of it brushing against the leather jacket he’s donning. If Eiji had to describe what ‘cool’ was, it was this sight exactly. Everything about Ash just seemed...effortless. No matter where he was, or who he was talking to, he always seemed in control of the situation. Eiji longed to be like him, he wanted it so bad it hurt. 

Surprisingly to Eiji, Ash was one of the few people at the school who didn’t give him shit. Never once can Eiji remember the boy being mean to him, let alone sending him a dirty look. It’s not like they ignored each other. Ash even threw him a smile once when they were working together during Biology. So sue him, Ash was cool and Eiji wanted so much to be his friend. 

Eiji looks away. He’s looked at Ash more than necessary, and he still needs to head to class before the bell rings. Mentally, he’s preparing himself for another few hours of this hell when he hears someone call out to him in the most irritating nasally voice to ever grace this earth. 

“Hey _Gayji_ , where the hell do ya go every lunch, huh?” taunts Arthur, who Eiji now knows is the resident high school bully and bane of his existence. Eiji tenses up but keeps walking. The nickname has been thrown at him countless times the past two weeks, and he’s not about to let Arthur of all people bother him when he’s already about to be late to class. The lessons his father ingrained into his brain about never showing emotion are at the forefront in his mind as he keeps his head low. For Eiji, it works. For Arthur...well, it just pisses him off more, much to Eiji’s displeasure. He can hear the boy snarl and the sound of metal banging. “Hey _fairy_ , I was talking to you,” says Arthur as he kicks off the lockers and walks after him. 

With Eiji’s eyes firmly on the ground, he misses Arthur gesture to one of his cronies up ahead. The other boy sticks his leg out the same time Arthur shoves Eiji. His notebook and papers go flying as he crashes into the ground, quickly throwing out his hands to soften his fall but sending pain up his arms and knees where they crash hard onto the hard tiles. Eiji swirls around, anger near bursting out of him as he glares up at Arthur. “Seriously?” he says incredulously only to be met with laughter from several onlookers. 

Arthur’s face is caught in an amused sneer when he tilts his head forward and spits on Eiji. The boys around him howl with laughter while Eiji’s stuck frozen, face beet red from humiliation. It happens instantly after that. While everyone’s preoccupied with humiliating him, Eiji’s eyes get drawn to the sudden movement behind Arthur. 

A part of him is still shocked this motherfucker spit on him.

Everything happens in front of Eiji as if it’s playing out in a movie. No one sees Ash push off from the locker angrily and chuck the toothpick that was in his mouth to the floor. It’s when he shoves Arthur’s cronies to the side that it’s too late. There’s a few gasps from the other students in the hallway when Ash grabs onto Arthur’s shoulder and _tugs_ , using the momentum to ram his fist right into his nose. A sickening crack mixes in with the yells in the hallway as blood gushes down the boy’s face, splattering on Ash’s hand and the tiled floor. Arthur falls to his knees yelling loudly as one of his friends tries to do the same to Ash, but the blonde’s too good. He manages to get a punch and scratch in on Ash before Ash grabs onto his arm and throws him to the lockers, kicking his stomach with the side of his shoe. 

Eiji’s scrambled back at this point, the chaos from the fight drawing everyone’s attention as they form a circle around them. It’s loud, jeers and taunts thrown at them all until suddenly the circle parts as the principal all but yanks Ash away from laying into the third boy.

“Break it up, break it up!” the principal says as he holds Ash back. “Everyone BETTER clear the hallway or I’ll have all your asses on a plate!” The crowd scrambles away in a mess of shouts. Eiji grabs his things and tries not to get his hands stepped on, trying to leave with the rest of the cloud. “Uh uh, not you, mister. You come with me.” the principal says to Eiji, wagging his finger. Eiji clenches his fist and gets up, following the principal with the other boys. 

The principal makes Eiji and the other boys wait outside the principal’s office while he takes Arthur to the nurse. While it’s not the first time Eiji’s been called to the principal’s office over some bullshit, it doesn’t stop the anxiety boiling in his lungs. He doesn’t miss how Ash is sitting between him and Arthur’s mini gang, hands stuffed in his leather jacket and scowl on his face, legs spread out. The other boys are quiet, nervousness taking hold. Ash is the only one who seems relaxed. 

The principal comes back 20 minutes later visibly angry. He motions for all of them to get inside his office and they do, standing in front of his desk waiting for whatever he’s going to dish out. 

“Well, Mr. Frederik is going to suffer from a broken nose for the foreseeable future,” he lets out a deep sigh as he settles on his chair behind his desk. His hands come up to rub at his temples. “You know, we run a very tight ship around here boys. None of this tomfoolery is acceptable,” he says as he looks at Arthur's boys. His gaze shifts and points to Ash as he nods his head toward him. “And you. Again, Mr. Callenreese?” he laughs humorlessly. “This isn’t the first time you’ve caused trouble here. It’s only September, are we going to expect more of this going forward, young man?” He clasps his hands in front of his body, leaning against his arms on his desk.

Ash licked his lips before answering. “That depends, sir. Is Arthur going to continue being an irritating piece of-”

“I wont tolerate this disrespect, young man. Your father will be hearing about this.” The principal glares at Ash. 

Eiji’s eyebrows meet his hairline. Ash doesn’t say anything, pokes the inside of his mouth with his tongue. 

“There will be no toleration for fighting at this school. I don’t care what the reasoning was. That young man had his nose broken, Mr. Callenreese. If I hadn't intervened these young gentlemen would’ve been given the same honor, no doubt,” he waves his hand to Arthur's boys. “All of you. Two weeks of detention starting tomorrow. As for you, Mr. _Okamara_ ,” the principal spits his name out, “looks like you hadn’t thrown any punches. Still, three days for you. Now get out of my sight.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


They all got separated during detention so they wouldn't cause more trouble. Despite it only being the beginning of the school year, what you could call a rivalry between Ash and Arthur went back to their days together in middle school. Ash was stuck wiping down chalkboards in different classrooms, forced to lug the washing jug and towels between rooms while the janitor sat on a chair at the end of the hallway near the only fan. The man barely looked up from the newspaper in his hand, only to scold Ash when he accidentally let too many drops of water onto the floor. It’s not like it mattered, it was fucking water. Ash is convinced the dude’s only there to agitate him. 

He smells like musty dirty water and soap. He’s got about 10 more minutes of this absolute bullshit before he can go home and take a hot shower. He knows Arthur’s crew has it worse though, forced to organize and shelf all the books checked out from last year and summer in the school's library. He laughs whenever he remembers their faces when they were told to do it. Those morons are halfway to illiteracy as it is. Washing chalk off of boards is nothing compared to them struggling to learn the dewey decimal system. 

Eiji got off easy, at least. 

Ash pauses for a fraction of a second and then continues the mindless wiping up and down motions he can get lost in. Eiji...he doesn’t know how he feels about Eiji. The boy showed up out of nowhere and suddenly he’s in half of Ash's classes. The second Ash saw him his heart panged. They were a small town, no place for any type of outsiders really. He can’t imagine what it must have been like for the guy’s family having to deal with all the racists around here. Ash knows the town like the back of his hand, knows practically every family’s business on account of him just having good ears. Plus, the men like to gossip at his father’s pub, and he’s worked enough shifts at night to overhear it. Ash isn’t nosy, and he tends to stay out of people’s business unless they make it his business. But Arthur? Arthur’s a dirty fucking pig that he definetely has business with.

Yesterday in the hallway really ticked Ash off. It was a low blow. The guy never did nothing to nobody. He’s seen the way his classmates have treated Eiji so far, and while it isn't surprising it makes his blood boil. Treating the poor guy like a freak around here for what? The fact he wasn’t white? It was fucked up, if you asked him. Plus there were the rumors going around...and while rumors are always going around in small towns like theirs these hit too close to home. If things were a little crazier it could even put Eiji’s life in danger. 

Ash freezes at the thought. It wouldn’t surprise him, he realizes. If someone went after Eiji for thinking he’s a queer, it wouldn’t surprise him at all. But the thought makes him incredibly uneasy, a little dizzy with dear. He hasn’t interacted with Eiji much, but the boy has a sweet smile. It’d just be unfair, especially to his parents. Ash shakes his head. They’re all just rumours at the end of the day after all. 

He hears the bell ring, signalling that his hour and a half of detention are up. Ash huffs and drops the towel into the bucket of murky water. The janitor barely looks up from his magazine when Ash plops the bucket near his chair, spilling dirty water over the edge. He rolls his eyes and grabs his jacket, throwing it over his shoulder and making his way out of the school. He’s caught up in his thoughts, so he jumps when he hears someone call out to him right before he walks out the doors.

When Ash turns to the side, he sees Eiji. He looks behind him to make sure that it’s actually him the boy is calling out too. Eiji nods and smiles shyly before coming up to him. “Um, Aslan, right?”

“I go by Ash.” The blonde says, a slight Irish accent in his voice.

“Ah. Did you-”

“Were you waiting out here for me this whole time?” Ash asks incredulously, hand raising to point a finger to his own chest. He notices the way Eiji’s eyes follow it, brown eyes going wide in shock. 

Eiji’s hands reach out to grab his and Ash lets him. Ash watches the way Eiji holds his hand gently, turning it this way and that. His hands are warm, Ash realizes as he sees the way his eyebrows furrow. “Your hands are all bruised up,” Eiji finally says, a little bit of sadness in his voice. 

Ash shrugs. “Arthur had it coming to him.” 

He doesn’t expect Eiji to smile. “Well, thank you for defending me,” he says to him quietly before looking up towards him. Ash can feel his chest tighten as his lips part. He doesn’t know what to say to that, because he knows he went overboard. 

It occurs to him that he’s not the only one fed up with everyone’s bullshit at this school. Yeah, maybe he did go overboard, but Eiji understood. In that moment, whatever he felt, Eiji felt too. It was just them in the empty school hallways, and Ash never felt more lightheaded, his heart fluttering in his chest. Ash tilted his head towards the door. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” he smiled down at Eiji.

**Author's Note:**

> so for some people who may not know, after the pearl harbor bombing america was really racist towards japanese people and even had set of internment camps where they forced like 50k japanese people in there. it was pretty bad and the racism followed for a lot of decades. that was in the 40s though, over a decade before this fic starts.
> 
> next chapter is where asheiji meet!!! idk how quick updates will be because i'm taking organic chem rn and yall...it is HARD. wish me luck 🥺
> 
> if you liked it come talk to me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/lovingtaeonmain) or my [tumblr](https://fullhalalalchemist.tumblr.com/) please!!! i would love to talk to you guys


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